Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Necessary

"Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Am I necessary to anybody? Well my answer would have to be yes. When you make the decision to become a mother, you have also made the decision to be necessary to somebody. Sometimes I feel all alone. Living a considerable distance from my dad and my sister and brothers and my son, at times makes me very lonely. For now, at least, I have my daughters near. I received a birthday card from my son and it filled me with a longing to see him. In my heart he is that laughing, funny, precocious child who enhanced my life 31 years ago. Now he is a grown man, still beautiful and gentle in spirit. So how could I ever question that I am necessary to somebody?

"Do not make life hard to any." This is an important aspect of character that I so want to possess. A person should never make life hard for someone else. We need to treat each other with kindness and respect and not be overly critical of another persons thoughts or decisions. We may not always agree with someone on any given action, thought or decision, but if we remember "not to make life hard to any", I think we will be happier with ourselves.

So when I want to get deep into thought, and sometimes I do, I turn to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He never fails to make me think about myself in critical terms. Am I the person I want to be? Do I have many hurdles to jump to make myself the person I want to always be? The answer is yes, I stumble along the path, but I get up and keep trying to be a better person.